SANTA CRUZ -- The Santa Cruz Planning Commission on Thursday will weigh a local attorney's application to open a medical marijuana dispensary near the Harvey West area, a proposal that requires an exception to the city's limit on the proximity of pot shops to homes.

Santa Cruz lawyer David E. Thompson wants to open a 1,500-square-foot dispensary and 3,000-square-foot indoor marijuana grow at 1321 River St., which is part of a four-suite commercial building bordered by homes and the Metro bus headquarters. By city ordinance, the dispensary is allowed within an industrial zone with a special use permit.

Thompson, a medical marijuana user, said he and two fellow patients hope to open Surf City Collective as an alternative to the city's only other dispensary, Greenway, located a mile away. The city only allows two dispensaries at a time, one of which closed in May 2012.

"It's important for the patient population in Santa Cruz to have variety in their medical remedies," Thompson said. "One dispensary cannot provide the full spectrum of cannabis medicine."

Several neighbors oppose the plans.

CONTROVERSIAL LOCATION

Carol Foster, owner of the 28-unit Pogonip Terrace Apartments behind the proposed dispensary, said the organization would exacerbate drug-related problems and illegal campsites that exist in Harvey West and the adjacent 640-acre Pogonip, the city's largest park.

"This will literally be within our backyard -- we have heroin hill on one side and a proposed dispensary on the other," Foster said. "For me, it has nothing to with being for or against medical marijuana. I wouldn't want a liquor store or gun shop on that site given the population that exists here."

Foster said she received a postcard from the city notifying her about the Planning Commission hearing but had not been contacted by Thompson, who acknowledged he has not reached out to neighbors about his plans. However, he said he would like the opportunity to address their concerns.

"This location is in a part of the city that is more remote from that vast majority of city residents," he said. "It's understandable they will be concerned, but the benefit of having medicine for patients outweighs the concerns of some local neighbors. It's a very difficult situation for everyone."

Golf Club Drive residents Jim Felich and Cathy Puccinelli said they also object to the dispensary, saying it would create traffic problems and add to concerns long posed by a high number of transients and drug users in Harvey West, which contains the Homeless Services Center.

"Enough is enough in our neighborhood," Puccinelli said.

Vice Mayor Lynn Robinson, a member of the Metro Board of Directors, said the proposal raises a number of concerns and could have an negative impact on the bus agency.

"Even though I understand the city is trying to locate (dispensaries) in industrial zones, someone would have to convince me there aren't other problems related to drug activity," Robinson said. "It doesn't seem like the ideal location."

The permit can be revoked by the commission if problems arise between the dispensary and neighbors.

DISPENSARY LIMITS

The council voted in 2010 to limit dispensaries to two and allow them to grow marijuana on site, but the council mandated the pot shops remain at least 600 feet away from a residential zone.

For the commission to approve an exemption to the 600-feet rule, Thompson has to demonstrate a public benefit that "would outweigh concerns regarding intensity of use, and public health and safety," according to a Planning Department report.

The report said staff support the exemption because the city already limits the number of dispensaries and that security and operational measures would minimize impacts on nearby residences. Planners said the dispensary, which says it wants to serve low-income patients, would meet a goal outlined in the city's general plan for providing "high quality and accessible health and human services for all."

Planners' conditions of approval would limit the collective to operating from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and patients would not be allowed to smoke marijuana on site. The collective would rent a 1,400-square-foot single-family house at the back of the property for use by an associate.

Rick Linkemyer﻿, whose parents own the building, said he believes security cameras and other measures will pose no safety threat, including to his sole existing tenant who recently rented a suite for storage. Because a fire two years ago required extensive renovations, Linkemyer said his family has not been able to generate much income from the building.

"It will be nice to know it's rented," he said.

The city attorney's office has reviewed Surf City Collective's plans and said they comply with state and local laws. Police also have recommended the plans with additional security measures.

Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark noted the location for the proposed dispensary is not near a school, as is Greenway. But he said he is concerned about whether "some of that product makes its way into the hands of the already vulnerable population in that area. We have seen that happen."

Santa Cruz Patients Collective operated on Limekiln Street for about six years before closing and creating an opening for Surf City Collective to apply for a permit. Police said Santa Cruz Patients Collective and Greenway generated no code enforcement problems or calls for police service.

WHAT: Consideration of a proposed medical marijuana dispensary at 1321 River St., requiring a special use permit and an exemption to a rule barring dispensaries from 600 feet of a residential zone.WHEN: 7 p.m. ThursdayWHERE: City Council Chamber, 809 Center St.INFORMATION: www.cityofsantacruz.com